Istanbul june 2008 1187b.jpg

Many of the portraits are inscribed above the shoulder in Palmyrene-Aramaic with the name and genealogy of the deceased, and sometimes the date of death as well.The original language of Palmyra was Aramaic (which later shifted to the Greek language); Palmyrene-Aramaic had two systems of writing: a monumental script and the one here, which is a Mesopotamian cursive.